Rand slightly firmer as land report clears parliament
The rand was marginally firmer against major global currencies on Wednesday afternoon, despite headwinds.
US markets are closed due to the funeral of former US president George HW Bush, and this is expected to keep the rand range-bound for now, analysts said.
Local factors are in focus, however. Earlier parliament’s upper house, the National Council of Provinces, approved pushing ahead with amending the constitution to allow expropriation of property without compensation. This paves the way for the gazetting of a bill that will require a period of public consultation, and ultimately another vote in parliament.
This issue, along with Eskom’s failure to guarantee a steady supply of electricity, should increasingly weigh on the currency the longer it drags on, said TreasuryOne senior Currency dealer Andre Botha.
At 2pm the rand was 0.62% firmer against the dollar at R13.7521, up 0.52% against the euro at R15.6129 and 0.18% stronger against the pound at R17.5603. The euro was 0.1% stronger at $1.1353.
At the same time, the benchmark R186 government 10-year note was at 8.97% from 8.895%.
Source: businesslive.co.za
